Stormy day in Hawaii

clouds over Makakilo

clouds covering the Koolau mountain range

clouds all the way from Kapolei to Diamond Head

even Waipahu and Pearl City looked covered

the hillside of Makakilo

A Different Kind of Flower

angel's trumpets

cactus

spiny leaves

thorny cactus

cactus 2

cactus 3

The weather has changed again, no rain, little wind, just a different kind of day. I finally got out to check out these cacti, they have captivated me for some time now. They have a beauty that "only a mother" can love and they poke back if you do them harm. There are lots of them at Kapiolani Community College, all different varieties. I will have to go back there to take pictures of some of the others, for some reason they seem to want to be photographed and I will do my best to show them in all their splendor, don't they all look a little intimidating...or maybe that's the wrong word.....aloha 

Surfing Point Panic

wahine surfing small waves

The day was kind of slow motion. I did a few errands and decided to stop by Point Panic for the fun of it. Didn't expect to see much because the waves were small and the wind was from the wrong direction. There were a few surfers in  the water. The wahine caught my eye and I decided to stay and get a few shots. Even though I had only 30 minutes before I was due at the next place.
She seemed like she knew what she was doing. She caught and stood up on all the waves she went after. The kane in the water were waiting for the perfect waves, but she charged almost all of the ones that had potential. The kane did managed to get a few. The water had an aqua tint to it and it was very translucent, it was as clean as I had ever seen it. I guess since the last storm left us with chocolate brown water, I paid more attention to it. I am still amazed at the beauty of the skies, the water, and you know, I am still amazed at the beauty of this place I call home, Hawaii.........aloha

more fun when there's two

all kinds hit the surf

having funn

she had fun

waves, clean water, no crowds

she held her own

check the stance

what a ride

ride it in

Room with a View.......

view from the 43rd floor

Diamond Head and the Ala Wai Boat Harbor

 It was a hazy kind of day. Even though the day had the potential to be a beautiful  day, but thanks to the "VOG" it looked kind of blah(vog is a condition caused by the volcano, when we get Kona winds, it blows the volcanic haze all the way from the island of Hawaii. The winds usually blow in from the north east, due to weather conditions they sometimes blow in from the opposite direction, the south west, thus Kona winds and haze.
We had a great vantage point, the 43rd floor, but it didn't make it any better. The penthouse had a tremendous view of Ala Moana Beach Park, Diamond Head, the Ala Wai boat harbor, and views all the way to town. After trying to shoot from all the angles, the skies were still flat and the photos show that. All in all it was a great opportunity to see things from a different perspective. Hopefully, we will get another chance to shoot pictures from this "room with a view". I look forward to that day.......aloha

Magic Island

Ala Moana tennis courts

looking towards downtown

2011 Chinese New Year in Honolulu

2011 the Year of the Rabbit

The Year of the Rabbit, I was born in the year of the Rabbit. Anyway, Chinatown was in all it's glory, food, dragons, people and lots of everything else. 

We started by going to Honolulu Park Place, that was the only parking available, then took pictures from the 31st floor. You could already see the crowd was swelling, the smoke was thick, that means that there was going to be all kinds of delicious foods cooked right before your eyes. They didn't disappoint you either, there was chicken, beef, pork, noodles, crispy gau, egg rolls and the list could go on and on. Gotta get a plate. We checked out nearly every vendor, the entertainment was pretty good also, the Navy band played current hip hop and did a darn good job. They had a large crowd that sang along and danced in the street. We saw modern jazz dancing and of course there was traditional Chinese ladies dancing. It made for a nice evening stroll through Chinatown, get your exercise and work up and appetite at the same time, had a great time........aloha

2011 Miss Chinese Queen

the street was crowded early

chicken on a stick

there were lil' dragons too

more food....

absolutely delicious.....

street vendor

people and smoke everywhere

Sunset at Koolina Resort

lagoon 4

shore line

 What a beautiful day. There was nothing to do but take in all the fullness of the day. After doing some chores and loading music on my ipod, decided that the beach would be a perfect end to the day. Jumped in the car and headed to Koolina, where the most spectacular beach lagoons are. What makes it so good, for one thing, is that it is just down the hill from the house.
There weren't that many people there, just enough to take pictures without having bodies in the shot.
It is truly amazing to see the beauty that is all around us here in Hawaii, I know that I take it for granted but I find myself capturing more and more of it while shooting for my blog. It is exciting to see things that you see every day, but some how they look exceptionally beautiful when you stop and really look at them. All I can say is WOW, I didn't realize that the sunsets were so amazing to watch. Well, I hope that you can see the beauty that I saw when I fixed my eyes on it,,,,,,have a great tomorrow...aloha

hotel on the beach

Ihilani hotel 

westside hotel

westside sunset

Eddie Would Go!

the Quicksilver Eddie Aikau surf meet

Today was a great day to do the beach, the morning started early, 4:00 am to be exact. The was a pearly moon and giant waves. The waves were at least 20 plus feet, there was a large crowd of viewers and surfers too. There was plenty of action in the morning, the surf fizzled around lunch time but by then I had gotten the shots that I wanted. It made for a long day but boy was it worth it. There were people from all over the world, here just to see the giant waves.
I guess that sometimes I take being in Hawaii for granted because of all the to-do about big wave surfing didn't really move me until I was standing on the beach at Waimea hearing all the talk about how beautiful it is here, the mountains, the water, the surf, and the goodness of most of the people here. It was really awesome to see the power of the big waves and witness the skills that were displayed by the surfers themselves. It made a believer out of me and I will not miss this event in the future. I could have stayed longer but there were hunger pains and there was a bus to catch to get to my car which was parked at Haleiwa Beach Park, about 7 or 8 miles away, that's another story in itself. The traffic was outrageous with the water literally crossing the roads. All of this excitement made for an unforgettable day....Aloha

the crowd was there

the ride of their life

the waves were very nice for the event

more waves

awesome waves

just below the road

viewers were everywhere

the highway was packed

early morning at Waimea

a.m. view